Australia Day

First of all I would like to apologise for how ugly the blog has been lately. Unfortunately, I have been using the library computers which only have internet explorer, and blogger doesn't really like internet explorer so it does funny things. Once we get a new laptop (and internet for that matter) I will be back to using an internet browser that was created and updated in the last decade so until then you will have to suffer through the massive gaps, funny indentations, and sometimes lack of photos.

Yesterday was Australia Day. It's sort of like the 4th of July, except for Australians. They, like us, have conveniently placed their national holiday in the middle of summer so as to optimize your love for your country. Luke and I decided to take advantage of all of the free things going on in the city and head down to the harbor. The cloud was a scary shade of grey, but we desperately wanted to get down to the waterfront before the ferrython started. Basically they 'dress up' the Sydney ferries and they race through the harbor. After standing under a tree waiting for the downpour to pass, we were slightly underwhelmed by many of the 'dressed up' boats.

There was free music playing at a few different venues all day and it was surprisingly great. There were all different genres from folk to jazz to alternative pop/rock. It was a great day once the torrential downpour came and went. The sun was beating down on us for the rest of the afternoon. After we'd had enough sun as if on cue the rain was back. We took that opportunity to pop into Hart's Pub, a local brewery in Sydney.

In the evening we were sitting on our balcony umming and ahhing about whether or not to make the 2 minute walk to Darling Harbour to see the fireworks, but we finally decided to take one more walk on our aching feet down the hills to the harbor. I'm so glad we did because the fireworks were incredible. When we first walked down I was reminded so much of heading down to the fireworks at our local harbor on the 4th of July. There were candy stalls everywhere and kids begging their parents to buy them glowstick necklaces. The fireworks display that they harbor put on were some of the most impressive I've ever seen. They had music playing in the background with the fireworks exploding in-sync with the beats. There was a light show in between the fireworks leading you to believe they were over only to send an exploding sizzler up into the air to let you know the show was still going on.

We walked back home buzzing wondering how we could ever have considered not going to see such a great show (and free!)

As usual my attempt to add photos has failed. Sorry!!!